We are pleased to introduce the marriage of Jennifer & Omeed from Pleasanton, CA

What was your highlight of the day?
There were soooo many highlights and special moments throughout our very special day! We had a blended wedding that included American and Persian traditions. For the Persian ceremony Omeed's beautiful mom Shiva helped us make our Sofreh Aghd, which is a spread filled with lovely and symbolic items like fruit, honey, a mirror, decorative eggs, and nuts. Our ceremony was officiated by Lauren VanHam, an interfaith minister from Berkeley, CA. She delivered a very personal, thoughtful, lovely ceremony we couldn't have been happier with.

Do you have any advice to couples that are planning their upcoming wedding?
Throughout the entire wedding planning process we received so much love and support from our families. If I could offer any piece of advice to future brides and grooms it would be to allow your families to be part of the process. I believe it is selfish and short sighted to go through the wedding and marrying process with the commonly held belief that it is "the bride's day." A wedding can be so much more than just a day dedicated to one person. It is also important to be secure with the bride/groom's vision of their wedding day and to express it and stand by it throughout the planning process.

We wanted to kick off this New Year of our Wedding Tips Tuesday with our favorite accessory, Belly Bands!

This is a popular, classic and simple way to assemble your wedding stationery.

Using a Belly band is a beautiful way to tie your wedding stationery together while wowing your guests upon receiving your invitation. Belly bands are a great way to keep your Invitations and Inserts neatly together without the use of an inner envelope. With our variety of modern and vintage designs, we’re sure you’ll find one that fits your look perfectly!

Personalized save the date magnets and photo magnets are a unique way to let your guests know the date of your big day. As a more non-traditional method of sending save the dates, your guests will be delighted to display your Save the Date Magnets on their fridge, making your wedding date easy to remember! Whether you are interested in a save the date magnet with or without your engagement photo, we have plenty of unique save the date designs that are sure to fit your style. From modern and simple, to vintage, floral rustic, and traditional, these Customizable save the date magnets will leave a lasting impression on your wedding guests. Add your own personal touch to your designs by changing the save the date magnet wording, photo, colors and fonts!

Today’s Real Weddings features Colae and Kent who were married in New Hill, North Carolina.

Enjoy and have a Wonderful Thursday!

What was your highlight of the day?
My highlight of the day was when the barn doors opened and I was about to walk down the isle with my dad. It sounds so obvious, but it was incredible just taking it all in and looking for Kent at the end of the isle!

Do you have any advice to couples that are planning their upcoming wedding?
Hire a coordinator. Seriously I don't know what I would have done without her! Even though it was an added expense we weren't planning on originally, the truth is that the wedding day is just too short to be worried about details and if everything is going as planned. Timing the day of is everything, and it was so nice just having the coordinator taking the reigns and being able to truly relax. Remember, these people do this for a living and it is something you only do once. Things that stressed me out seemed so simple once I took it to the coordinator! To make it less expensive, you can hire a coordinator for just the day of like we did--I met with here three times leading up to the wedding where she took notes and it was that simple! She took care of seating and everything!

Want to make your Invitations stand out from all the other mail your guests receive? The answer is in the Postage and Handling of your invitation.

Prior to sending out your invitations, we suggest visiting your local post office with you a completed invitation and reply card with envelope. When there have them weigh them each item so you’ll know just how much postage you’ll need and you won’t worry about over or underpaying.

Once you know the cost of each invitation, the fun begins! Try to tie your invitations together with unique stamps to match your theme. Listed below are some of our staff favorite shops to purchase stamps:

Pack and Post(Friendly tip: At Pack and Post they have assorted grab bags so you don't have to add up each stamp to make sure you have you have the right postage amount. However, the only thing is that they do not stick to a theme with the grab bags)

Once you are ready to send out your wedding invites, another option to think about is to request that they be hand-cancelled. Using this method will have the post office hand stamp your invitations, rather than running them through machines and having the bar code at the bottom; it also decreases the chances of damaging your envelopes. To have your invitations Hand cancelled, visit your local post office with all of your completed invitations to request this.

A few more days and its Christmas! We just realized this is already the 3rd Holiday that Love vs Design has been around, crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun! Each year we've created some free holiday gift tags. You might have already seen some or most of these, but we wanted to put them all together in 1 post in case you're still looking for some last minute holiday gift tags. Enjoy!

These stylish Bride and Groom chair signs are an eye-catching wedding decoration. They are available in 3 different color options: gray, brown and black. Add a ribbon or rope to hang them on your chairs. These signs can be downloaded instantly on our Printable Template Page.

Including a wedding program for your guests is a thoughtful detail that lets guests follow along with your wedding ceremony. Whether they are curious as to the name of your wedding song, or want to know the name of your maid of honor, a wedding program will let your guests feel more engaged with the ceremony. You can purchase a ceremony program to match the rest of your stationary, or chose another style from our wide variety of designs. Add your own personal touch to your wedding program by changing the wording and color.

This Real Wedding Thursday brings us to Alabama for the wedding of Michael and Elizabeth. As you’ll see it truly was a beautiful DIY wedding; from the bright colors to the special touches created by their loved ones to the constant smiles around the venue. A true day filled with Love.

What was your highlight of the day?
The highlight of our wedding day was probably our first look. It was really special and before the craziness started and guests began to arrive. We were both really excited and seeing each other helped calm our nerves. After seeing Michael, I was so calm and just so ready to marry him!

Is there anything you would have liked to do differently?
ummm no! =) To me, the day was perfect! If I had to do something differently, I would have eaten more food! I didn't get to try all of our food at the reception and our guests said it was all really good (provided by IZ Catering). But I really wouldn't change a thing!

Do you have any advice to couples that are planning their upcoming wedding?
Let your friends and family help you out! Especially if your wedding is mostly DIY. It helps you get all of your projects done faster and it's just more fun. Don't get too stressed out and never lose sight of what the day is all about. Oh, one more thing! Delegate on the wedding day. You are the bride and you should be relaxing and not doing ANY manual labor! I had such great friends and family that did all the heavy lifting on the big day and it made the wedding day the most stress-free day!